Las Vegashttp://joshuabrauer.com/taxonomy/term/62/all
en-USCowboy Christmas 2010 comes to Las Vegashttp://joshuabrauer.com/2010/11/cowboy-christmas-2010-comes-las-vegas
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img src="http://joshuabrauer.com/sites/joshuabrauer.com/files/imagecache/thumbnail-large/dsc_4151.jpg" tilte="Rodeo Bull" style="float:right;" />Thanksgiving is past and Christmas is just a few weeks away which means Las Vegas turns into the city of the <a href="http://prorodeo.com/" title="Wrangler National Finals Rodeo">National Finals Rodeo</a>. Whether you have tickets for the rodeo or just want to do some shopping <em>Cowboy Christmas</em> is one of the best times you can have in Las Vegas. Contrary to what the ads say this part of what happens in Vegas <strong>doesn't stay in Vegas</strong>.</p>
<p>Even if you're not going to make it to Las Vegas this go-round you can follow the action from the <a href="http://twitter.com/jbrauer/nfr" title="Twitter users talking about the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas">NFR list on Twitter</a>.</p>
<p>Here's a round-up of the various major gift-shows and sales going on: <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2010/11/cowboy-christmas-2010-comes-las-vegas" rel="tag" title="Cowboy Christmas 2010 comes to Las Vegas" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Cowboy Christmas 2010 comes to Las Vegas</span></a></span></p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:58:09 +0000Joshua Brauer2201 at http://joshuabrauer.comCowboy Christmas 2009 in Las Vegashttp://joshuabrauer.com/2009/12/cowboy-christmas-2009-las-vegas
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>If you're in town for the National Finals Rodeo or just want to do some shopping <em>Cowboy Christmas</em> is one of the best times you can have in Las Vegas. And contrary to what the ads say this part of what happens in Vegas <strong>doesn't stay in Vegas</strong>.</p>
<ul><li>The Las Vegas Convention Center hosts the <a href="http://www.nfrexperience.com/home/cowboy_christmas">Cowboy Christmas Gift Show</a> which is open 10AM - 5PM daily from Thursday, December 3 through Saturday, December 12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center this show bills itself as "longest running and <em>only</em> “Original” gift show of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo." The convention center is easy to get to on the Monorail as well making it hassle-free to get to.</li>
<li>My personal favorite the <a href="http://www.countrychristmas.com/">Ariat Country Christmas Western Gift Expo</a> returns for the 16th year at the Sands Convention Center and runs from Friday, December 3 - Sunday, December 13. Their site doesn't give hours but it's safe to assume they will be similar daytime hours. The Ariat Country Christmas is <strong>the only of the three to be open on Sunday Dec 13</strong>.</li>
</ul> <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2009/12/cowboy-christmas-2009-las-vegas" rel="tag" title="Cowboy Christmas 2009 in Las Vegas" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Cowboy Christmas 2009 in Las Vegas</span></a></span></div></div></div>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1881 at http://joshuabrauer.comLooking in all the wrong placeshttp://joshuabrauer.com/2009/02/looking-all-wrong-places
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Some recent <a href="http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=9848589">unbookings</a> for Las Vegas meetings have Sin City tourism officials concerned. Last year's meeting revenue was off 5% before the recent spate of backlash.</p>
<p>Having recently traveled through McCarran airport it seems that Las Vegas tourism officials should be considering other problems as well. In short I've never been in a place so filthy. Every corner of the C-terminal that wasn't filled with a human was covered with litter. Each of the windows held a random collection of used tissues, drink cups and to-go containers decorating the sill. The rows upon rows of seats that make up each gate had similar collections of detritus under each seat.</p>
<p>The impression was certainly not a positive one. Imagine the business traveler arriving for the fist time for a meeting that evening. I've traveled through the airport most of my life and it was enough to make me cross it off as many trips as possible. What would somebody who had never been there think?</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:25:40 +0000Joshua Brauer1638 at http://joshuabrauer.comCowboy Christmas 2008 edition in Las Vegashttp://joshuabrauer.com/2008/08/cowboy-christmas-2008-edition-las-vegas
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Each day folks stop by looking for information on <em>Cowboy Christmas</em> so I guess it's never to early to post information about the 2008 show.</p>
<ul><li>The Las Vegas Convention Center hosts the <a href="http://www.nfrexperience.com/home/cowboy_christmas">Cowboy Christmas Gift Show</a> which is open 10AM - 5PM daily from Thursday, December 4 through Saturday, December 13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center this show bills itself as "longest running and <em>only</em> “Original” gift show of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo"</li>
<li>My personal favorite the <a href="http://www.countrychristmas.com/">Ariat Country Christmas Western Gift Expo</a> returns for the 15th year at the Sands Convention Center and runs from Friday, December 4 - Sunday, December 14. Their site doesn't give hours but it's safe to assume they will be similar daytime hours.</li>
<li>The Mandalay Bay Convention Center will again play host to the <a href="http://www.cowboymarketplace.net/">Cowboy Marketplace Western Lifestyle Expo</a> December 5 - 13</li>
<p>So whether you're headed to Las Vegas for the NFR or just for some holiday shopping it should be a great time in Vegas again this year.</p>
</ul></div></div></div>Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:05:53 +0000Joshua Brauer1570 at http://joshuabrauer.comSouthern Nevada Water Authority plans to destroy a way of lifehttp://joshuabrauer.com/2008/06/southern-nevada-water-authority-plans-destroy-a-way-life
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Continuing on yesterday's video binge here is a great video about plans of the Southern Nevada Water Authority to suck up water from fragile parts of Nevada and pipe it to Las Vegas. The video looks at some of the impacts on areas of rural Nevada. It doesn't get very far into how risky this plan is for Las Vegas. Although SNWA would like to spend billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars to put in the pipeline the risks involved with having a whole city depend upon a facility that is impossible to secure flies in the face of the concerns of homeland security.<br /><br />
[video:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcoujfL0SNM]">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcoujfL0SNM]</a></p>
</div></div></div>Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:57:58 +0000Joshua Brauer1553 at http://joshuabrauer.comSurprise Snake Valley hearings require quick actionhttp://joshuabrauer.com/2008/06/surprise-snake-valley-hearings-require-quick-action
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/joshuabrauer.com/files/pipeline_in_trench.jpg" style="float:right" alt="Pipeline in a ditch" /><br />
On May 23 Southern Nevada Water Authority asked to have hearings on their applications to import more than <strong>16 billion gallons of water annually</strong> from the <strong>Snake Valley</strong> in North Eastern Nevada. At SNWA's request the hearings were scheduled in record time. The gavel goes down on July 15. The quick start date for the hearings makes it challenging for those with an interest in the applications to make sure they are heard.</p>
<h3>Snake Valley</h3>
<p>Nevada's Snake Valley stretches into Utah, making the applications of interest to those in the water challenged areas of both states. The basin also is home to <a href="http://www.nps.gov/grba/">Great Basin National Park</a>, Nevada's only National Park.</p>
<p>"We know there are a lot of very vocal people who live in Snake Valley. We've seen that in the other hearings," Kay Brothers, deputy general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority told the Las Vegas Review Journal. The <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/19450664.html">article</a> in the Review Journal lays out a schedule where the hearings will be started in July and then continued to next year.</p>
<p>One is certainly left to wonder if this quick hearing call isn't designed to stack the deck in favor of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The tight timeline makes it difficult for many public bodies to even meet and decide to take action before paperwork must be filed with the state engineer. <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2008/06/surprise-snake-valley-hearings-require-quick-action" rel="tag" title="Surprise Snake Valley hearings require quick action" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Surprise Snake Valley hearings require quick action</span></a></span></p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:03:50 +0000Joshua Brauer1549 at http://joshuabrauer.comHey there rodeo fanshttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/11/hey-there-rodeo-fans
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>If you're coming to Las Vegas this December for the National Finals Rodeo or just to check out <a href="/2007/10/cowboy-christmas-2007">Cowboy Christmas</a> there are several other things that might be fun to do while you're in town. None of the suggestions I'll post in the following weeks should keep anyone from making donations to the <em>Nevadans Don't Like To Pay Taxes</em> fund at your local casino.</p>
<p>However, if you'd like to find some off-the-beaten-path things to do while you're in Sin City then consider taking at trip to the Ethyls Chocolate Factory and <a href="http://www.ethelschocolate.com/jump.jsp?itemID=118&amp;itemType=CATEGORY">cactus garden</a>. Although the company has a new name their facility has been a Las Vegas favorite for more than 25 years -- longer than some casinos last in this town. The trip will leave you with plenty of time to get back for the nightly performance at the Thomas &amp; Mack and will provide a glimpse of 300+ desert species in a four-acre sanctuary. Oh and you can sample chocolates at the factory while you're there.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1466 at http://joshuabrauer.comCowboy Christmas 2007 in Las Vegashttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/10/cowboy-christmas-2007-las-vegas
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It is that time of year again. The leaves are turning and the pumpkins are dotting the streets. With the World Series underway folks are starting to look towards Cowboy Christmas along with the 2007 National Finals Rodeo in <strong>Las Vegas</strong>. Here's a roundup of the gift shows going on around Rodeo Time.</p>
<ul><li>The Las Vegas Convention Center hosts the <a href="http://www.nfrexperience.com/home/cowboy_christmas">Cowboy Christmas Gift Show</a> which is open 10AM - 5PMdaily from December 6 through December 15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center this show bills itself as "longest running and ONLY “Original” gift show of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo"</li>
<li>My personal favorite the <a href="http://www.countrychristmas.com/">Ariat Country Christmas Western Gift Expo</a> returns for the 14th year at the Sands Convention Center and runs from December 6 - December 16. Their site doesn't give hours but it's safe to assume they will be similar daytime hours.</li>
</ul> <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2007/10/cowboy-christmas-2007-las-vegas" rel="tag" title="Cowboy Christmas 2007 in Las Vegas" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Cowboy Christmas 2007 in Las Vegas</span></a></span></div></div></div>Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1452 at http://joshuabrauer.comWeekend odditieshttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/10/weekend-oddities
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>A couple of odd things happened this weekend. First I was <a href="/2007/10/gulf-mexico">traveling</a> from Tampa to Las Vegas on Friday and checked a bag. I'd taken a larger bag than necessary because my suit didn't fit well in the smaller bag. When I stuck my things in the bag on the way home I did not put the shoe trees back in my shoes. Upon opening the bag there was the little paper saying TSA had opened the bag and then I noticed the shoe trees were indeed in the shoes.</p>
<h2>Did I almost run you over?</h2>
<p>Saturday I was at the office for most of the day. I decided to go across the street for a sandwich at lunch. To get across the street I used the frequently fatal crosswalk to traverse Maryland Parkway. The southbound lanes were wide open and as crossed the median there was one car off in the distance coming a little too fast. As I reached the middle lane the driver didn't stop and swerved around me with his window down. He was apologizing as I was making some comments about his ability to read the signs, comments which aren't fit for reprinting here. <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2007/10/weekend-oddities" rel="tag" title="Weekend oddities" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Weekend oddities</span></a></span></p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1441 at http://joshuabrauer.comSNWA's risky planhttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/07/snwas-risky-plan
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>There is little secret that the Southern Nevada Water Authority(SNWA) is out to suck Nevada dry. One of the real problems for Las Vegans is to figure out when SNWA is dealing with reality or when it is a SNWA magic looking glass version. For example SNWA wants us to believe it would be a good idea to spend billions of dollars (like at least tens of billions) to build a pipeline to get all that <em>unused</em> water.</p>
<p>However, other experts don't agree with SNWA's calculations of how much water is or isn't in areas like <em>Dry Lake Valley</em> (heh, it just sounds like a place for a pipeline to get water). See for <a href="http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=94&amp;SubSectionID=801&amp;ArticleID=33852&amp;TM=51527.48">example</a>: "Tom Myers, a consulting hydrologist for the Great Basin Water Network, said the water authority is asking for several times the amount of water that's available, according to data compiled previously by the state engineer's office."</p>
<p>That's right. SNWA wants to spend billions and billions of dollars to build a pipeline. Not only will it vastly increase the security risks to Las Vegas and send Sin City deeper into its tailspin of unsupportable growth, but now they're proposing straws to places without the water they claim is there.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1396 at http://joshuabrauer.comLas Vegas gets negative presshttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/07/las-vegas-gets-negative-press
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The magazine Fast Company has a list in their July issue of <em>fast</em> cities around the globe. "We scoured the globe in search of placed that best embody economic innovation and opportunity. We found creative-class meccas, R&amp;D hot spots, even cities so fast they're scary. Is your hometown on the list?" says the <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/">table of contents</a> page. Unfortunately for the people of Nevada the magazine hits the nail on the head in calling Las Vegas a <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-fast-cities-too-fast-cities.html">too fast city</a> and suggests that Vegas is "An environmental pileup in the making. Can the casinos find enough water to fill all those pools?"</p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1384 at http://joshuabrauer.comIt's 11 AM do you know where your thermometer is?http://joshuabrauer.com/2007/07/its-11-am-do-you-know-where-your-thermometer
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Summer is definitely upon the southwest. Not quite 11 AM and the thermometer is already crawling past the 100-degree mark. Some will <a href="http://blog.notruebill.com/?p=515">hit eject</a> to get to a cooler place. There seem, however, to be plenty of people who are happy with the heat. Phoenix, described earlier this year as a place where<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5259268&amp;ft=1&amp;f=1021">"the heat is intolerable in the summer, and the city has no defining cultural tradition or obvious reason for existence"</a> just <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0628bigcities28-on.html">bumped off</a> the city of brotherly love as the 5th largest city in the country. They must sell a lot of real estate in January when it's only 90-degrees outside.</p>
</div></div></div>Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:11:10 +0000Joshua Brauer1376 at http://joshuabrauer.comiLinehttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/06/iline
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="autofloat-odd"><img src="/sites/joshuabrauer.com/files/iLine.jpg" align="right" /></span>Greetings from the iLine Las Vegas version. We'll soon see what the iPhone is like.</p>
</div></div></div>Sat, 30 Jun 2007 02:08:49 +0000Joshua Brauer1375 at http://joshuabrauer.comUS News on Nevada Water Grabhttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/05/us-news-nevada-water-grab
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>By now few in the West are unfamiliar with Las Vegas' water grab plans. The efforts to defoliate the rest of Nevada in favor of unrestricted growth are the subject of an article in this week's US News and World Report. <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070527/4nevada.htm">Nearly twice as much water</a> is what Las Vegas water grabber Pat Mulroy tells the magazine when she is not explaining why long showers aren't wasteful. There is a number to think about. Twice as many people in the Las Vegas metro area. Take your lot and divide it in half. Double the number of cars on the road. </p>
<p>The Las Vegas marketing slogan says that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. If Mulroy continues unchecked it will literally be true as nobody will be able to go anywhere else. Residents won't have to worry about taking out their sod to support the over-the-top evaporation from Lake Las Vegas, rather they will just move into their cars and live on the roads. And of course the Governor has a plan for the roads too. Between Mulroy's pipe dreams about what population Las Vegas can support and the Governor's road-funding-without-taxation fantasy Vegas and the rest of Nevada have a long road ahead.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 30 May 2007 12:00:00 +0000Joshua Brauer1364 at http://joshuabrauer.comUnintended consequenceshttp://joshuabrauer.com/2007/04/unintended-consequences
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-teaser"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Many things we do have unintended consequences. Consider for example the research suggesting <a href="http://newmexiken.com/archives/2007/04/0010863.php">mobile phones may be killing off bee colonies</a>. The consequences of this are particularly dire on our food crops. In spite of a great apricot blossom this year we appear to have few fruit set on the trees. What we didn't have to go with the blossoms were the bees to pollinate them. </p>
<p>Southern Nevada Water Authority's attempt to <a href="http://www.planevada.org/water1006.htm">grab water</a> from rural Nevada and <a href="http://www.nonevadawatergrab.com/">surrounding states</a> is rife with such unintended consequences. Consider the global food supply chain that feeds Las Vegas. With the destruction of the agricultural areas of the state Las Vegas will be totally dependent on this global chain instead of having the local resources to support the community in times of crisis. We have recently seen the effects of this global supply chain when a Las Vegas company <a href="/recall-points-to-homeland-security-farming-issue.html">sold contaminated wheat germ</a> to pet food manufacturers and poisoned pets across the continent. With a food supply this fragile even small disruptions have huge consequences. <span class="read-more-link"><a href="/2007/04/unintended-consequences" rel="tag" title="Unintended consequences" class="read-more read-more">Read more<span class="element-invisible"> about Unintended consequences</span></a></span></p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:37:44 +0000Joshua Brauer1346 at http://joshuabrauer.com